


Lost in the Throws of Grief

by TechnologicalNoiz



Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Other, this was for badthingshappenbingo, vague chargestep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 03:46:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17953004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TechnologicalNoiz/pseuds/TechnologicalNoiz
Summary: Ortega post-Heartbreak mourning the death of sidestep.





	Lost in the Throws of Grief

He sits there with his head in his hands, a bottle at his side. His tears have run dry long ago though the pain of loss is still all too real. _T_ _hey’re gone, they’re really gone. You shouldn’t have let them come. Now, because of you, they are gone for good._

A fresh sob rips through his body, looks like there are still tears left to cry. When was the last time he slept? He doesn’t remember. Time moves strangely when trapped in the suffocating grasp of grief. He picks up the bottle and drains it as he stumbles to his feet to grab another. Two mugs still sit on his table the remnants of coffee all but forgotten. A happy dream from another time, their tired smile still fresh in his mind. That call changed everything. Sent his world into shambles, his happiness shattering with that window… If he closes his eyes he can still see it, still hear it. The putrid scent of death lingering in his nose refusing let him cherish the memories of a better time.

He reaches out, fingers gently brushing over the rim of the mug where their lips were mere days before. Gently he picks it up cradling it to his chest as he sinks to the ground, beer left forgotten on the table. That is how you find him. Sitting in his kitchen, back against the cabinets curled into a ball clinging to their mug as if it is a life line.

He looks broken, frail… exhausted. Your heart breaks as you walks towards your shattered friend and lays a hand on his shoulder. “Ricardo, you can’t keep going like this.”

At the sound of another voice he stirs, large brown eyes full of despair as he desperately holds on to the last memory of someone he loved deeply, ripped from his grasp all too soon. “… gone Wei…  s’all my fault…” his voice is small, throat raw from too many tears shed.

You feel sorrow for a friend in anguish, for another friend lost, for a young life that you never gave the chance they deserved. A sigh escapes your lips as you push any feelings of remorse and pain deeper into your mind, locking them away like so many times before. Ricardo needs you now. You can’t afford to feel the pain. You don’t deserve to mourn their loss. You ignore the guilt.  _Maybe if you trusted them things would have been different._

You lean down carefully removing the cup from Ricardo’s hands setting it on the counter. “Come on,” you kneel pulling one of his arms over your shoulders and putting one of yours around his waist, you haul him to his feet supporting his weight as he stumbles, “let’s get you to bed.”

“Don’t wanna… can’t sleep…” He weakly struggles against your grip giving up after a moment, collapsing against you instead. “Got ‘em killed Wei… both Themmy and…” He doesn’t say their name. He can’t. His body trembles in your arms as he draws in another strangled breath.

In the state he is in there is nothing you can say that would ease his mind, nothing you can do to make him realise that he is not at fault. He wouldn’t hear you even if you tried. Instead you half drag him to the bedroom sitting him on the edge of the bed. You kneel to remove his shoes before making him lay down. “Try to get some sleep,” you pull the covers over Ricardo’s shoulders, “I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”

“Wei?” Ricardo’s voice is a broken, quiet whisper. “Don’t leave… can’t be alone.”

Another sigh. You are tired, exhausted, you can feel it setting into your bones, taking hold of your mind obscuring it in dark clouds and long suppressed demons. “Alright.” You sink down beside the bed reaching out to brush some hair out of Ricardo’s face. It hurts to see him like this. His usual strong, confident smile gone. There is no hint of the man you have come to know so well. Losing someone you love is never easy. Even as the years pass the pain dulls but it forever lingers at the back of your mind, lurking, waiting for the darkest of days before it strikes again.


End file.
